Sign.



A. F. CONNEM G. L. WILLEN'.

SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9. 1914.4

Fim'. l 9

Llull" Patented A11-g. 31, 1915.

:ABNER F. CONNER AND GUY L.

WILLETT, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS T0 THUS. CUSACK C0., A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

SIGN'.

T0 all lwhom it may concern Be it known that we, ABNER l?. CoNNER and GU'Y L. WILLETT, citizens of the United States, and residents of Indianapolis, county of Marion and State of Indiana, have 1nvented a certain new and useful' Sign; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrlptlon thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to llke parts.

The object of this invention 1s to improve the formation of letters for signs and the like, particularly with reference to the shading of said letters.

One feature of the invention conslsts in providing a hollow letter-shaped frame, open at the front, so that lamps can be placed within said letters, and means for indicating the 'proper shading for such letter. The means herein shown for indicatlng such shading consists in painting the outer surfaces Iat one `side of said letter and also the adjacent background of a certain suitable color forindicating shading, and also placing electric lamps onsaid background adjacent such shaded sides, said lamps being colored to correspond with the color of the painted surfaces. y

The nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevaf tion of a portion of a sign showing one letter thereof. Fig. 2 is a section on thev line 2-2 'of Fig. 1.

ln the drawings there is shown in detail a plate 10 on which the letters constituting the sign are-secured, and it rconstitutes the background forthe letters. To said plate metal or like plates 11 are secured, forming the outline `of the letter throughout. There is shown hereinthe letter R, although the invention is not limited to any particular letter or other design. In Fig. 2 the two parallel plates 11 are shown as formed by one sheet of metal, which is bent U-shaped \with a bottom secured to the background plate 10, but this arrangement is immaterial. The letter proper, therefore, is hollow and opens outwardly as shown. Within the hollow letter incandescent lamps 12 are secured. They may be any desired color but ordinarily are unpainted. The shading in the letter R as indicated in Fig. 1, is to Specification of Letters Patent.

' but it appears to Patented dug. 31, 1915..

Application filed March 9, 1914. Serial No. 823,549.

the left of the letter surfaces or plates 11. Therefore vthe outer surfaces ,of the lefthand plates 11 all the vway around the letter Y secured to the painted portion of the back`A ground plate 10 and near the shaded side walls of the letter 11, and said lamps 14 are coloredto agree with the color of the paint, say, dark green. In order to give the proper perfection of shading, angle plates 15 are secured to the background plate l0 at the ends of the painted surfaces 13 of the plate 10 so as to conceal the lamps 14 from-the unshaded side of the letter. Hence the right-'hand side surfaces of the letter R are unshaded and the left-hand side surfaces are all shaded. The result of this arrangement is to produce a beautiful shaded letter effect and with the proper coloring of surfaces and lamps an unusually beautiful sign is produced, and it is not only a well shaded letter after dark when illuminated, be equally well shaded in the day time because of the painted surfaces;

The invention claimed is:

1. A including'a back-ground plate,`

a hollow open-front letter or design carried by said plate and with its sidewalls projectlng therefrom at substantially right angles, illuminating means within said letter or design, colored lamps adjacent the outer side surfaces of said letter or design facing 1n one general direction adapted to represent shading, and plates to cut off' the light of the adjacent colored lamps from the non-shaded sides of the letter.

2. A sign consisting of a back-ground plate, a hollow open-front letter or design carried by said plate and having its side walls projecting therefrom at substantially right angles, illuminating means in the recess of said design or letter, and shading formed by painting the outer side surfaces of said design or letter facing in one general direction and the adjacent portions of the back-ground plate the desired shading color.

3. A sign consisting of a Abackground plate, a hollow open-front letter carried by said plate and having its side walls projecteoY ' l said plate -ing therefrom aia-substantially right angles,

illuminating means in the hollow portlons of said design or letter, shading formed by painting the outer side surfaces of said de- 'sign or letter facing in one general direction and the adjacent portions of the back-ground plate the desired shading color, and lamps on said shaded portions having the same color as the shaded portions.

4. A sign consisting of a back-ground plate, a hollow open-front letter carried by and having its side walls projecting therefrom at substantially right angles, uncolored incandescent lamps in the hollow portions of said design or letter, the outer side surfaces of said design or letter and adjacent surfaces of the back-ground in one general direction being painted a desired shading color, incandescent lamps secured to the back-ground plate in the shaded portion thereof and colored like the shading color, and plates extending from the corners of said design or letter adapted to cut off the light of the adjacent colored lamps from the non-shaded sides of the letter.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto aHiXed our signatures in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

ABNER F. CONNER. GUY L. WILLETT.

Witnesses:

J. H. WELLS, O. M. MCLAUGHL'IN. 

